In the 2009 draft, the Broncos and coach Josh McDaniels so badly wanted to select Wake Forest cornerback Alphonso Smith they paid a heavy price to get him. The Broncos made a deal with the Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos got the Seahawks’ No. 37 overall pick in the second round in exchange for one of the Broncos’ first-round picks in the following year’s draft.

That 2010 first-round pick turned out to be No. 14 overall. The Seahawks took Earl Thomas III, who is only the best safety in the NFL. Ouch!

Entering the draft, the Broncos had an eye on selecting the heir apparent to Bailey, who turns 35 next month, with their No. 28 overall pick.

But the top four corners went off the board from No. 9 overall, where Dee Milliner went to the Jets, to No. 25, when Xavier Rhodes was selected by the Vikings. The Broncos were particularly hoping for the 6-foot-2 Rhodes, but when he was gone, the next best player on their board was DT Sylvester Williams.

The No. 2 spot in the 32-team waiver pecking order turned out to be one spot too low for the Broncos in their claim of former New England cornerback Darius Butler.

A second-round draft pick (No. 41 overall) in the 2009 draft, Butler was in high demand once the Patriots waived him Saturday. Four teams claimed him: Carolina, Denver, San Francisco and Jacksonville. He was awarded to Carolina because the Panthers have the No. 1 spot in the waiver claim order.

Darcel McBath returns an interception caught from the Colts' Peyton Manning during the 2009 season.

It’s now official: The Broncos’ second round in the 2009 draft has to go down as the worst in franchise history.

Not one, not two, but three second-round picks flamed out. The latest, and last, was safety Darcel McBath, who was waived to make room for the signing of former Patriots nickelback Jonathan Whilhite.

McBath followed tight end Richard Quinn, who barely played and had one catch in two seasons before he was waived with an injury settlement in training camp, and cornerback Alphonso Smith, who was traded last year to Detroit for tight end Dan Gronkowski, who was cut.

Raiders running back Darren McFadden gets wrapped up by Broncos defensive end Kevin Vickerson last season.

SportsBusiness Journal is reporting that among the NFL’s contingency plans for a prolonged work stoppage is an eight-game schedule for the 2011 season. I do not believe the lockout will last this long. I can’t see the players holding strong past the first week of September.

But, for kicks, let’s say the eight-gamer occurs. If so, the Broncos would wind up playing two of their eight games against the defending AFC West-champion Kansas City Chiefs and no games against their rival Oakland Raiders.

The Broncos’ 2011 season would start Nov. 13, with a Sunday game at Kansas City. Their first home game would be four days later, Nov. 17, a Thursday night game against the New York Jets.

The Broncos are scheduled to make 7 draft picks over the next three days, with the first pick coming in just over an hour when they will go on the clock with the No. 2 overall pick.

The Broncos ended up with that No. 2 pick after a dismal season in which the team finished 4-12, with the league’s worst defense. As if that wasn’t a painful enough reminder, let’s look at how the Broncos ended up with several of their other picks:

Add the release of tight end Marquez Branson and guard Seth Olsen to the bizarre developments that also included the release of defensive end Jarvis Green, and trade of second-year cornerback Alphonso Smith to the Detroit Lions in exchange for receiving tight end Dan Gronkowski and a draft pick.

Alexander, Davis, Geer, McCarthy, Stehle and Williams are candidates for the practice squad that will be announced tomorrow.

The team also placed former Air Force defensive end Ben Garland on the reserve/military’s list, and defensive end Elvis Dumervil and receiver Brandon Stokley on injured reserve.

Stokley’s contract will be terminated as soon as his agent and the team work out an injury settlement. Stokley suffered a groin injury a couple days after the Broncos’ first preseason game.

Branson had been the Broncos’ replacement to Tony Scheffler but as preseason went along, he had issues with dependability and durability. Gronkowski _ a good receiver but not considered much of a blocker _ is now Scheffler’s replacement.

Olsen was the Broncos’ fourth-round pick last year, but after playing with the first team at left guard early in the offseason, he was replaced first by rookie Zane Beadles, then by veteran Stanley Daniels.

Smith was traded away even though the Broncos surrendered a first-round 2010 draft pick (it turned out to be No. 14 overall, which Seattle used to select safety Earl Thomas) to move up in the second round of the 2009 draft. The Broncos gave Smith a $2.15 million signing bonus last year.

With Broncos training camp over and two preseason games complete, we’re closing in on the first round of cuts (on Aug. 31) when the roster will go from 80 to 75, and we’re less than two weeks away from the major cuts, when the team will pick its 53-man roster.

Centennial _ Even while only paying half-attention to the Broncos’ practices this offseason, and then mostly on how the quarterbacks were throwing, the secondary kept jumping out at me.

By far, the Broncos’ most talented position is at defensive back. Champ Bailey is not far-and-away the most skilled player back there, anymore. He might still be the best, but not by much.

What makes this year’s group stand out, at least so far, is the addition of Nate Jones, noticeable improvement of Alphonso Smith, and this rookie kid named Perrish Cox. During a goal-to-go passing drill Saturday, Cox took some first-team reps away from Bailey at left corner.

Add those guys to a starting four of Bailey, Andre’ Goodman, Brian Dawkins and Renaldo Hill, plus 2009 draft picks Darcel McBath and David Bruton, and this secondary is loaded.

Having said that, there is still enough age in that starting group _ Bailey and Goodman will turn 32 before the preseason, Hill will turn 32 and Dawkins 37 during the season _ that this secondary will still need a pass rush.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.